Metered Access

Crain's Detroit Business is a metered site. Print and digital subscribers have unlimited access to stories, but registered users are limited to eight stories every 30 days. After viewing three metered stories, you'll be asked to register or log in. After eight more stories in 30 days, you'll be asked to subscribe.

Since 2010, AmeriCares' medical assistance program has been providing more than a dozen free clinics in Michigan millions of dollars worth of free pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and equipment, said Leslie McGuire, director of AmeriCares' U.S. partnerships and programs.

In 2013, Stamford, Conn.-based AmeriCares sent 195 shipments to 16 clinics in Michigan, providing more than $3.5 million in free medical goods. The clinics include the Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic in Pontiac and St. Frances Cabrini Clinic in Detroit.

AmeriCares is the nation's largest provider of donated medical aid to the U.S. health care safety net, last year delivering $70 million in prescription and over-the-counter medicines and medical supplies.

This year, AmeriCares added three clinics to its online ordering system, which enables clinic directors to place orders directly based on available supplies, McGuire said.

"They can place their orders like on Amazon, based on their eligibility for products," McGuire said. Drugs include medications for the heart, asthma, allergies, stomach ailments and diabetes.

Pam Haratsis, Burnstein's executive director, said the clinic has received $450,000 in supplies annually from AmeriCares since 2010. Burnstein's annual budget is $300,000.

"It has been a godsend," Haratsis said. "We receive lots of medications, inhalers for allergies, Nexium for stomach problems, eye medicine and syringes. They don't charge us for shipping, as other similar services" do.

While the Joy-Southfield Clinic in Detroit doesn't participate in AmeriCares' free drug program, David Law, its executive director, said the free clinic has received about $500,000 over the past eight years in free or discounted medications from pharmaceutical company programs.

Most of the other clinics also participate in the more than 200 pharmaceutical patient assistance programs.

"We also try to get prescription coverage for brand-name drugs through pharmaceutical programs based on our patients' eligibility (income)," Haratsis said.

Kelly Herron, executive director of the Cabrini Clinic, said the free drugs through AmeriCares help hundreds of its patients deal with diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension.

"They provide all our insulin and syringes, which are pretty expensive," Herron said. "It would almost be cost-prohibitive" for Cabrini to buy those drugs using its own financial resources, she said.

Like most free clinics, Cabrini receives almost as much free medicine — $300,000 last year from AmeriCares — as its annual budget: $380,000.

"We also participate in the pharmaceutical drug programs and have local hospital systems that support us," Herron said.

McGuire said AmeriCares also receives free donations of medications from pharmaceutical companies that it passes on to free clinics.

"We give out medications, prescriptions, vaccines and over-the-counter drugs to clinics in the U.S. and around the world," she said.

David Barash, M.D., chief medical officer of the Fairfield, Conn.-based GE Foundation, said the foundation's $2.1 grant this year to AmeriCares reflects its belief that the agency makes a difference in the 10 million patients it assists with free supplies.

"As a foundation, we look for places we think can make meaningful impact," Barash said. "With 40 million uninsured now, even with the Affordable Care Act in three years, we will still have 20 million uninsured. We need to leverage our resources to improve systems in primary care clinics."

Barash also said the GE Foundation has provided AmeriCares $3.5 million since 2010. Some of the funding will help AmeriCares expand its programs to help treat patients with depression and pre-diabetes, he said.

The GE Foundation also works with a number of federally qualified health centers to improve their information systems, Barash said.